Blockchain drives tokenized property ownership — Here’s how

Over the ages, property ownership has survived the fall of empires, endured technological revolutions and kept pace with shifting social tides.

The business of land and buildings has shown a remarkable knack for adaptation, and blockchain stands as a powerful tool for the real estate industry to address and overcome the challenges of the modern world.

Key challenges in real estate investment

Real estate — a market expected to hit $654 trillion by 2025 — has long been considered one of the most stable investment options. Yet, the barriers to investing remain high for the broader population. Starting with high upfront capital requirements, rigid regulations and protracted settlement processes, these challenges deter all but the most well-funded or persistent buyers. Additionally, the traditional property market is illiquid, often taking months or even years to complete a sale.

This is where blockchain — and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization — enters. Simply put, RWA tokenization in real estate is the process of converting ownership of a property or its related cash flows into digital tokens on a blockchain. These tokens represent the value of the underlying asset in the form of absolute ownership of a single property to fractional shares or specific rights to rental income.

The key advantage of RWA tokenization is that it enables liquidity in an otherwise illiquid market — allowing tokens to be traded 24/7 across a global network — while enhancing transparency, security and efficiency.

However, potential adopters still face concerns about regulatory compliance, technological complexity and data authenticity — challenges that go well beyond simply digitizing a property deed. The full realization of RWA tokenization’s potential requires real estate participants to navigate legal frameworks and industry standards, ensuring that everything from fractional ownership rights to security measures and investor protections aligns with regional and international regulations.

A comprehensive suite for RWA tokenization

Mantra, a layer-1 blockchain built for RWA tokenization, stands at the forefront of bringing real estate business to blockchain by tokenizing property. Built on the Cosmos SDK, Mantra provides the necessary infrastructure, compliance features and liquidity solutions to bridge the gap between traditional assets and blockchain technology.

The platform was specifically engineered to address three core challenges in real estate tokenization:

1. Complex regulatory requirements
2. Security and trust
3. User-friendly interface

Here’s a closer look at how Mantra’s toolkit simplifies the tokenization process for developers, institutions and individual investors:

Overcoming regulatory complexities

Real estate is heavily regulated, with laws differing across jurisdictions. Rather than relying on cumbersome offchain processes, Mantra allows users to undergo Know Your Customer (KYC) verification within its blockchain environment with its Digital Identity (DID) system. Following a phased rollout, this system will issue a soulbound NFT to those undergoing the KYC process. Ensuring only verified users can transact will significantly reduce compliance hurdles.

🎙️INSIGHT: Tokenization went from rebellion to revolution, now it’s the evolution of finance.

At Consensus HK, @MANTRA_chain co-founder @jayantramanand shared how they built an L1 blockchain to power compliant, composable tokenization for real-world assets.

In 2017,… pic.twitter.com/uvx21SRGBZ

— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) February 21, 2025

Meanwhile, Mantra Token Service (MTS) includes features like freezing, seizing or burning tokens — vital for aligning onchain activity with real-world legal mandates. To avoid liquidity fragmentation — RWA liquidity being scattered across multiple networks — Mantra supports Inter Blockchain Communication (IBC) Protocol, facilitating seamless asset transfer between blockchains.

As a manifestation of its commitment to compliance, Mantra applies to licenses where it operates. The project recently received a license to provide services as a virtual asset exchange, broker-dealer and management and investment servicer in Dubai from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). As the first DeFi platform to achieve this, it signaled the start of a new regulatory era.

Onboarding in action — a closer look at user experience

Regulatory compliance often goes hand in hand with daunting paperwork.

Mantra aims to streamline the time-intensive process long associated with regulatory compliance, with its DID system. New users undergo a KYC check just once, after which they receive a passportable identity confirmation that can be used across the ecosystem.

This identity binds them to a Mantra wallet address and mitigates the need for repeated verification. From there, the platform’s user-friendly dashboard guides users through everything from token creation to asset management. The emphasis on simplicity empowers experienced investors and newcomers to participate in real estate tokenization without feeling overwhelmed by technical details or cumbersome red tape.

Four steps to take real estate onchain

When a real estate developer seeks financing for a premium commercial complex, it can utilize the Mantra ecosystem in addition to traditional fundraising methods.

1. Using MTS, the issuer mints tokens representing fractional shares in the new property.
2. Interested investors complete a quick, onchain KYC process via the DID module, confirming that only verified individuals can purchase.
3. The tokens are listed on MANTRA DEX, giving global investors round-the-clock access.
4. The issuer can freeze tokens if necessary in compliance with applicable jurisdictions, while investors can track ownership and performance onchain with minimal hassle.

A prime example of tokenization

Real estate has the potential to massively benefit from tokenization thanks to its massive global market size and stability, as well as traditionally high barriers to entry. Transforming property ownership into blockchain-based tokens will improve access to liquidity, enabling investors to buy and sell real estate assets more easily, and in near real time. It also lowers the capital threshold for participation, attracting a broader range of investors and developers.

Real estate that is tokenized using the Mantra suite provides a secure and verifiable record of ownership and enables fractional ownership models at scale. It is a combination that signals an accessible and capital-efficient era of property investment and positions real estate as a frontrunner among RWAs moving onchain.